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Are today’s players fit? Not in my book

by
The Rugby Paper Team
23 August 2026

AFTER watching a summer brim-full of elite sport, I am yet again wondering how fit professional rugby players really are. I should mention in passing a lifelong suspicion that rugby rather pulls the wool over our eyes when it comes to fitness levels.
For me, the proof of the pudding is that you can still instantly spot an individual who is properly conditioned, ditto a team. Josh Lewsey stuck out like a sore thumb on England’s tour of Hell in 1998, and from that moment onwards Clive Woodward demanded elite levels.
Wales instantly improved 100 per cemt under Warren Gatland in 2...

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Related TopicsEngland Final Gatland Lions Northampton Premium Rugby Schools Wales Warren Gatland World Rugby

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